Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions

OBESSU

Full name	Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions
Founded	April, 1975
Affiliation	European Youth Forum
Key people	Ela Jakubek, Secretary General, Oona Heiska, Board Member, Laufey María Jóhannsdóttir, Board Member, Rūta Meškauskaitė, Board Member, Brendan Power, Board Member, Giuseppina Tucci, Board Member, ,^[1]
Office location	Brussels, Belgium
Website	www.obessu.org

The Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions (OBESSU) is the European platform for cooperation between the national school student unions in Europe, active in general secondary and secondary vocational education. All member organisations are independent, national, representative and democratic school student unions. The platform currently unites 24 national school student unions from 19 European countries.

OBESSU is a stakeholder formally recognized by the Council of Europe and the European Union and a regular interlocutor with the European Commission, European Parliament, Council of Europe and UNESCO. OBESSU aims to establish partnership and cooperation between all educational stakeholders. It is a full member of the European Civil Society Platform for Lifelong-Learning (EUCIS-LLL) and the European Youth Forum (YFJ), and an associate member of the European Students' Union.

History

OBESSU was founded in Dublin, Ireland in April 1975 by the national school student unions from the Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark), United Kingdom and Ireland. The initial aim of the organisation was to create a pan-European school student organisation that could be a platform for cooperation between the national school student unions. By 1980 the platform added members from Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg and West Germany and throughout the next decade expanded its membership in Southern Europe. The organisation was in many ways a result of the will to unite east and west but it took almost 20 years until OBESSU got its first member organisation from the former eastern block.^[2]

In 1985 OBESSU and its member organisations declared their support for COSAS (the Congress of the South African Students) in their struggle against the apartheid regime. A study visit to South Africa is planned but cancelled after the regime banned COSAS, forcing all the leaders in the organisation to flee the country or go underground.^[3]

In 1987, it was clear that the international initiative was strong in the former east block countries. The organisation IUS (International Union of Students), which had their secretariat in Prague, started to work more with secondary students and in 1987 the first international school student meeting was organised in La Havana where representatives of the OBESSU board and many of OBESSU’s Member Organisations participated. The same year, representatives the USSR, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and DDR participated in an OBESSU conference in Strasbourg with the aim to establish a more stable contact between the national school student unions in Eastern and Western Europe.

In 1995 OBESSU launched a major project to support the growth of school student unions in central and Eastern Europe. Since the early nineties national organisations have been established in Slovenia, Slovakia, Macedonia, and Hungary. Most of these organisations were unstable, in need of support but then, organisations from Slovenia and Slovakia became members of OBESSU. In 1999 OBESSU launched the UNBASCO project which focused on supporting the stabilisation of school student unions in the Baltic countries, leading to the membership of organisations from Estonia and Lithuania.

In April 2005, the 30th Anniversaire Celebrations of the foundation of OBESSU were celebrated in Dublin, Ireland and hosted by the Union of Secondary Students. On the 7th of December 2011, OBESSU was awarded the 3rd Civil Society Prize^[4] during the plenary session of the European Economic and Social Committee for the ‘Light on the Rights’ Bus Tour project. The Civil Society Prize highlights outstanding initiatives and flagship projects by civil society organisations that have a positive impact on Europeans’ lives.

Objectives

Obessu works in order to:

represent the school students as stakeholders of their educational systems, and in issues concerning their lives;
provide the national school student unions with assistance and support and to co-operate for the development of school student representative structures;
encourage and enable exchange of experience and good practice among the national school students unions;
promote equal access to education and to strive for the end of all discrimination and injustice within the educational systems;
contribute to the development of democratic educational systems in Europe, that promote active citizenship in all forms;
promote solidarity and understanding between young people.

Structure

The OBESSU is structured with a General Assembly (GA) as the highest decision making body. The General Assembly meets annually and have authority over the statutes, the political platform and the workplan, as well as electing the Board of OBESSU, the highest decision making body between the GA and Council of Members. The Board is elected annually with overlapping mandates. In this way not all Board members are elected in the same year. The Board consists of 5 or 7 members and is responsible for leading and representing the organisation between the General Assemblies.

The current members of the Board are Oona Heiska (Finland), Brendan Power (Ireland), Giuseppina Tucci (Italy), Laufey María Jóhannsdóttir (Iceland) and Rūta Meškauskaitė (Lithuania).

Between every General Assembly there is a Council of Members (COMEM), which is the second highest decision-making body within OBESSU. The Board and the Secretary General coordinate the daily work of the organisation. OBESSU has a European secretariat based in Brussels, in an office it shares with the European Students' Union and other NGOs. Besides the Secretary General, the secretariat consists of a Project Officer and a Communications and Membership Officer.

Activities

OBESSU fights for the interests of all school students in Europe, represents its Member Organisations towards the relevant bodies and institutions, acts as a coordinating body for national and regional school student organisations, unions and structures in Europe, organises activities for its member organisations and initiates a dialogue with and between stakeholders in education

OBESSU organises approximately 5 conferences per year^[5]^[6] all dealing with education-related topics. OBESSU also works with its ESU counterparts to promote and coordinate the 17th of November as International Students' Day.

Members

The Member Organisations and Candidate Organisations of OBESSU are:^[7]

Country	Organisation
Austria	AKS – Aktion Kritischer Schüler_innen
Belgium	VSK – Vlaamse Scholierenkoepel
Bosnia & Herzegovina	ASuBiH – Asocijacija Srednjoškolaca u Bosni i Hercegovini
Czech Republic	CSU – Česká středoškolská unie
Denmark	DGS – Danske Gymnasieelevers Sammenslutning
Denmark	EEO - Erhversskolernes Elev-Organisation
Denmark	LH – Landssammenslutningen af Handelskoleelever
Estonia	ESCU – Estonian School Student Counsils’ Union/Eesti Õpilasomavalitsuste Liit
Finland	FSS – Finlands Svenska Skolungdomsförbund
Finland	SLL – Suomen Lukiolaisten Liitto
Finland	SAKKI – Suomen Ammattiin Opiskelevat
France	UNL – Union Nationale Lycéenne
Iceland	SIF – Samband Íslenskra Framhaldsskólanema
Republic of Ireland	ISSU – Irish Second-Level Students’ Union
Italy	UDS – Unione degli Studenti
Lithuania	LMS – Lithuanian School Student Union
Luxemburg	UNEL – Union Nationale des Étudiant-e-s du Luxembourg
Romania	MAKOSZ – Romániai Magyar Középiskolások szövetsége
Romania	CNE – Consiliul Național al Elevilor
Serbia	UNSS – Unija srednjoskolaca Srbije/Union of secondary school students of Serbia
Slovakia	SUS – Stredoškolská študentská únia Slovenska
Slovenia	DOS – Dijaška organizacija Slovenije
Spain	CANAE – Confederación Estatal de Asociaciones de Estudiantes
Switzerland	USO – Union der Schülerorganisationen CH / FL

External links

Official website

References

↑ http://www.obessu.org/board
↑ http://www.obessu.org/the-history-of-obessu
↑ Beccia G; 2010; ORGANISATIONS ET MOUVEMENTS EUROPÉENS DES ÉTUDIANTS APRÈS 1968: Les cas de l’Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions et de l’European Students’ Union; UNIVERSITÉ LIBRE DE BRUXELLESFaculté de Philosophie et Lettres
↑ http://www.eesc.europa.eu/?i=portal.en.organised-civil-society-prize-2011
↑ http://www.eucis-lll.eu/events/event/obessu-38th-general-assembly-and-4th-summer-school-learn-to-change/
↑ http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/eycb/News/StS_OBBESSU_Special%20Needs_March_2012.pdf
↑ http://www.obessu.org/members-list

Member organisations of the European Youth Forum (YFJ)

Full members: International non-governmental youth organisations	Association des Etats Généraux des Etudiants de l'Europe Alliance of European Voluntary Service Organisations International ATD Fourth World Movement Democrat Youth Community of Europe European Bureau of Conscientious Objection Young European Socialists European Confederation of Youth Clubs European Democrat Students European Educational Exchanges – Youth for Understanding European Federation for Intercultural Learning Erasmus Student Network ACTIVE - Sobriety, Friendship and Peace European Students' Union European Trade Union Confederation Youth EU Federation of Youth Hostel Associations European Union of Jewish Students Ecumenical Youth Council in Europe International Federation of Catholic Parochial Youth Movements (Fimcap) Federation of Young European Greens (FYEG) International Federation of Liberal Youth International Falcon Movement - Socialist Education International International Federation of Medical Students' Associations International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Youth and Student Organisation International Union of Socialist Youth International Young Nature Friends International Young Catholic Students - International Movement of Catholic Students Young European Federalists European Liberal Youth International Movement of Catholic Agricultural and Rural Youth Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions Rural Youth Europe Service Civil International World Esperanto Youth Organization World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts World Organisation of the Scout Movement Youth Action for Peace Youth and Environment Europe Youth of the European People's Party Youth for Exchange and Understanding European Alliance of Young Men's Christian Associations Young Women's Christian Association Youth of European Nationalities

Full members: National youth councils	Allianssi British Youth Council Nationale Jeugdraad Comité pour les Relations Nationales et Internationales des Associations de Jeunesse et d'Education Populaire Eesti Noorteühenduste Liit Conférence Générale de la Jeunesse Luxembourgoise Consejo de la Juventud de España Conselho Nacional de Juventude Consell Nacional de la Joventut de Catalunya Consiliul Național al Tineretului din Moldova Comité pour les Relations Internationales de Jeunesse National Youth Council of Switzerland Cyprus Youth Council Deutsches Nationalkomitee für Internationale Jugendarbeit Dansk Ungdoms Fællesråd National Youth Council of Greece Forum Nazionale dei Giovani Kunsill Nazzjonali Taz-Zghazagh Lietuvos jaunimo organizacijų taryba Latvijas Jaunatnes Padome Landsrådet for Norske barne- og ungdomsorganisasjoner Landsrådet för Sveriges ungdomsorganisationer Landsamband æskulýðsfélaga Mladinski Svet Slovenjie Mreža Mladih Hrvatske National Assembly of Youth Organisations of the Republic of Azerbaijan National Council of Youth Organisations of Georgia National Youth Council of Armenia National Youth Council of Ireland National Youth Council of Russia Österreichische Kinder- und Jugendvertretung Belarusian Union of Youth and Children's Public Associations Rada Mládeže Slovenska Česká rada dětí a mládeže Vlaamse Jeugdraad

Member organisations of the European Students' Union (ESU)

Members	Armenia: ANSA Austria: ÖH Azerbaijan: ASYOU ASU Belarus: BSA Belgium: FEF VVS Bosnia and Herzegovina: USRS Bulgaria: NASC UBS Croatia: CSC Cyprus: POFEN Czech Republic: SKRVS Denmark: DSF Estonia: EUL Finland: SYL SAMOK France: FAGE UNEF Germany: FZS Hungary: HÖOK Iceland: SHI Ireland: USI Israel: NUIS Italy: UdU Latvia: LSA Lithuania: LSS Malta: KSU Netherlands: ISO LSVb Norway: NSO Poland: PSRP Portugal: FAIRe Romania: ANOSR Serbia: SKONUS SUS Slovakia: SRVS Slovenia: SSU Spain: CREUP Sweden: SFS Switzerland: VSS-UNES-USU Ukraine: UASS U.K.: NUS-UK

Candidate members	Moldova: ASM Montenegro: SPUM Turkey: T-Youth Ukraine: NSS

Associate members	ANSO ANSA EDSU ESN EDSA EMSA EPSA EUJS FEMYSO IAPSS IFMSA IGLYO ISHA OBESSU

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